UVA falls behind early, gets blown out at Notre Dame, 76-54

By Scott Ratcliffe

The ACC road opener didn’t turn out so well for the Virginia men’s basketball team on Saturday, as the Cavaliers fell behind early and could never catch up in a disappointing 76-54 loss at Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish (6-7, 1-1 ACC) came into the game as the worst 3-point shooting team in the conference, but shot the lights out at Purcell Pavilion on Saturday.

UVA (10-3, 1-1), a 9.5-point favorite prior to tipoff, allowed the Irish to shoot 48 percent from long range (11 of 23) and 51 percent from the field (26 for 51), while once again losing the rebounding battle by a wide margin, 40-27, a familiar pattern in each of the team’s three lopsided losses (all by 22 points or more).

When the Irish weren’t dropping bombs from the perimeter, they were seemingly getting just about whatever they wanted in the interior as well. Notre Dame first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry saw his team score the game’s first 13 points and hold a double-digit advantage for nearly the rest of the way, leading at one point by 28.

“Our ball pressure wasn’t great, our ability to keep the ball in front, just a lot of breakdowns,” said UVA coach Tony Bennett. “And Notre Dame did a good job, obviously hit some tough shots, shot it well, but they had us in rotations and we just had a hard time.”

The game’s first four baskets all came from beyond the arc — the first three from Irish junior forward J.R. Konieczny, the other from star freshman Markus Burton.

Conversely, the Wahoos misfired on their first seven field-goal attempts of the afternoon before Ryan Dunn finally jammed one home to temporarily stop the bleeding at the 15:02 mark, cutting the early deficit to 13-2.

Isaac McKneely sank a triple with 12:24 left in the half to trim it to 17-9, and that’s about as close as it would get for the rest of the contest, as Notre Dame connected on 8 of its first 10 shots and stretched the lead to 18, 34-16, on another Konieczny 3-ball with 3:40 on the clock.

The Hoos were staring at a 41-24 deficit at the break, marking the Irish’s largest halftime advantage all season, as Reece Beekman turned the ball over on both of UVA’s final two possessions of the half. Notre Dame shot 70 percent from the floor (16 for 23) and from 3-point land (7 of 10) across the opening 20 minutes.

Virginia made its first three shots out of the locker room and started the second half on a 7-0 run to get back within 10, 41-31, by the 17:22 mark, and then a 7-2 spurt later in the half made it a 48-38 ballgame with 12:39 remaining, but the Irish answered with a 15-2 stretch over the next four minutes and change, and never looked back.

UVA shot 38 percent on the day (21 for 55), 18 percent from downtown (2 of 11) and just 56 percent (10 for 18) from the free-throw line, turning the ball over 11 times, which led to 10 points the other way.

Beekman led the Cavaliers in scoring (15 points) and assists (4), but coughed the ball up 5 times. Dunn was the only other Wahoo in double figures, finishing with 13 points to go with a team-high 5 rebounds.

Konieczny matched his career high with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting (4 for 5 from long distance), while freshman forward Carey Booth scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half. Burton added 15 points and Kebba Njie had 10.

“He just kind of put his shoulder down and bullied us, and he hit some tough shots,” Bennett said of Konieczny’s big day, adding, “We certainly kind of took a punch early and didn’t respond, and weren’t sound enough and consistent enough to get back in that game, which was frustrating.”

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia (10-3, 1-1 ACC) suffered its worst loss vs. Notre Dame
• UVA suffered its largest loss to an ACC opponent since its 65-41 loss at No. 10 North Carolina (2/18/17)
• Notre Dame’s 76 points tied for most vs. UVA in the series
• Notre Dame shot 69.6 percent (16 of 23) in the first half and owned a 41-24 lead
• The 17-point halftime deficit marked the largest vs. UVA this season
• Notre Dame started the game on a 13-0 run, highlighted by a trio of 3-pointers by JR Konieczny
• Virginia missed its first seven shots of the game
• Virginia started the second half on a 7-0 run
• Notre Dame out-rebounded Virginia 40-27
• UVA forced one shot clock violation (9 total)

Series Notes

• Virginia is 17-4 all-time vs. Notre Dame, including a 12-2 ACC regular-season record, in the series that dates to 1980-81.
• UVA is 6-2 against the Irish in Notre Dame
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 13-3 all-time vs. Notre Dame

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Reece Beekman (15), Ryan Dunn (13)
• Beekman reached double figures for the 40th time
• Beekman made his 100th career start
• Beekman (4 assists) moved into seventh on UVA’s all-time assists list with 496
• Dunn reached double figures for the eighth time
• Dante Harris missed his seventh-straight game with an ankle injury

UP NEXT

The Hoos return home to face Louisville on Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena (7 p.m., ESPN2).